People v. Kardasz

Summary

The Michigan Supreme Court held that the 2021 Sex Offenders Registration Act constitutes punishment because its reporting, publication, and lifetime-registration requirements resemble parole and shaming, impose affirmative restraints, serve retributive purposes, and are excessive in important respects. Nevertheless, the Act is not cruel or unusual facially or as applied to Kardasz because lifetime Tier III registration is not grossly disproportionate to his grave sexual offense. The court affirmed the Court of Appeals’ rejection of the SORA challenge, vacated inconsistent reasoning, and denied leave on the lifetime-electronic-monitoring challenges.